Engagement(Moon)

Why aloha there! :)

How are you all doing on this happy hump day?

We are having such a fun, relaxing time on our trip, which has now turned into our "engagement(moon)!"

So, by this point, I'm sure you're all wondering how Justin proposed, right?!

Let me see if I can sum it up pretty quickly for you before I head out to enjoy the beautiful beach.

Sunday, we didn't have set plans for the night, so we decided we would just head down to Whaler's Village to find some dinner.

As we were leaving the room, Justin grabbed a blanket and a bottle of wine, so of course I asked, "what are you doing?"  He said, "oh, aren't we going to blankity-blank-blank like the conceirge said to watch the sunset?"

I really couldn't remember what he was talking about, but we had gotten so much advice from everyone on cool places to go in Maui, so I didn't think much of it. I just smiled and awarded him a few brownie points for a sweet, romantic idea.

So, we got in our rental car and drove for about 15 minutes south.

Just as I started wondering where the h-e-double-hockey-sticks we were going, Justin turned to me and said we were actually going the wrong way, so maybe we should just forget it and go to dinner.

See...cool as a cucumber...or so I thought.

I was, of course, kind of excited about this sunset idea, so I said "let's just turn around and go!" We were in no hurry, right?

So we turned around and made our way up to the very northern part of the coast, stopping along the way to take in some beautiful views.

Beautiful.

I kind of felt like I was floating as we were driving up there.

I just felt so happy and peaceful (and I didn't even know what was about to happen!).

I've been fortunate to travel to some amazing places in my life so far, but this was one of the most beautiful drives I have ever been on, and it felt really special to be sharing this new experience (neither of us have ever been here before) with Justin.

We curved up the windy roads, and finally got to the spot he was talking about - "mile marker 38."

We pulled off the road to park by a secluded cliff area.

I was a little nervous about maneuvering my way down onto a cliff in my flip flops, so I was really starting to wonder if he had lost his marbles.

We worked our way around to a perfect spot to watch the sunset, and snapped a few pictures.

It was windy!

Once we sat down and got settled, before I even had a moment to think, he turned to me, said "Jessica," (I always know something is up when he calls me "Jessica") and with a really serious look in his eyes started saying all of these nice, wonderful things to me, none of which I remember!

My friend Christina warned me that you will not remember anything that is said, and she was so right!

I was so shocked, excited, and caught off-guard that I couldn't even gather myself to say "yes!"  Finally, I came back down to earth, and was able to give him a resounding YES! :)

We stayed up there for a while to enjoy the moment.

It was perfect.

The hardest part was that we had zero cell phone service, and it was about 1am back at home, so we only made a select few phone calls to break the good news.

After leaving our little spot, we decided to go to dinner to celebrate.

We ended up at a random steakhouse on the way back.

We started with some champagne, of course.

And then Justin had a steak (I think ribeye):

And I had some delcious hawaiian fish (can't remember the name!) with mango salsa & mashed sweet potatoes:

Yum! :)

The following night, as you guys know, we were all dolled up and ready to go out to Mama's Fish House for another special dinner.

Little did I know, this place everyone has been raving about is actually an hour drive away from our hotel!

Oh well, I'll do just about anything for some delicious fruity cocktails...

And, did I mention, LOBSTER guacamole!

Umm...yeah, this would definitely be a part of my last supper.

I enjoyed the house specialty, crab & lobster stuffed Mahi Mahi:

I don't typically like asparagas, but I actually enjoyed it this time around...or maybe it was just the butter :)

Justin had the Ono, which had some amazing asian flavors going on:

Not gonna lie, I actually liked his dish better than mine.

Mama's Fish House is definitely a MUST if you come to Maui.  It is an open-air restaurant, right on the beach.  You really cannot beat the atmosphere, or the delicious seafood!

During the past couple of days we have been enjoying our amazing breakfast buffet, reading & relaxing on the beach, and some snorkeling.

{Yes, a little sunburnt, but I've seen worse!} 

Last night, we went to Maui Brewing Co. to sample some local beers.

I didn't take many pictures, but the Coconut Porter was my favorite.

I don't love dark beers, but the Brekenridge Brewing Co. Vanilla Porter is one of my favs, and the Coconut Porter I had last night was very similar.

We were both super tired last night, so we decided to grab some frozen yogurt @ Yogurtland:

Thanks to Katie for the recommendation! They had Hello Kitty cups & spoons! :)

Tonight we have our Luau at Feast a Lele.  I am so excited for some delicous local food & the show.

But for now, I gotta go join this tan man on the beach!

xoxo

Jess

P.S. I know many of you have expressed interest in seeing closer up pictures of my engagement ring.


Send me an email at brighteyesandbushytales@gmail.com, and I will be happy to share! :)